Jailed ex-Taiwan president taken to hospital

[JURIST] Former Taiwanese President Chen Shui-bian [BBC profile] on Sunday was taken to a Taipei hospital [CNA report] for treatment of dehydration resulting from a hunger strike he had staged to protest his detention [JURIST reports] in jail for corruption. While there are no official charges against Chen, the former leader of the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) [official website, in Mandarin] was arrested Tuesday and questioned by prosecutors for some five hours. He is alleged to have committed money laundering and to have made illegal use of government funds during his presidency. He maintains his innocence, claiming he is being victimized because of his advocacy for Taiwan's independence and opposition to the ruling Nationalist Party. Doctors have said that Chen will be kept at the hospital at least overnight for observation. AFP has more.

Chen spent eight months in the same Tucheng jail twenty-one years ago for defaming Nationalist leaders. In September, he was cleared [JURIST report] on more recent defamation charges. Last year while Chen was still in power, he was tied [JURIST report] to an allegedly corrupt lawmaker.

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